THE final notes have been sung and in just a couple of weeks Bathurst music duo Smith and Jones will release their debut album.
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Abby Smith and Sophie Jones, the women behind Smith and Jones, finished recording just two days before 2016 came to an end.
The 12-track album, called Dark Give Way, features a number of songs that the duo’s fans will already be familiar with.
“Most of them, we’ve been playing around the Central West for the last year,” Ms Jones said.
“The 12 songs we’ve picked [for the album], we’re super happy with.”
The album’s producer and guest musician Michael Carpenter was on hand each day during the recording at Love Hz studios in Leichardt, Sydney.
A number of special guests feature on the album including Matt Ferry on lead guitar, Matt Golatta on banjo and slide guitar, and Ella Jamieson on cello.
“We got six tracks done in four days … it was a massive rush,” Ms Jones said of the recording session.
Songwriter Ms Smith wrote each of the album’s tracks, and said because the duo have known each other for so long, recording them was like a “well-oiled machine”.
We got six tracks done in four days … it was a massive rush.
- Sophie Jones, from Smith and Jones
“Michael [Carpenter] has been really open to any suggestion or ideas or any different direction we wanted to go in,” she said.
“It feels great, it’s so exciting, but it’s sad we’ve finished recording.”
Ms Smith said the album’s title comes from a line in their song Childless Mother, and it describes her struggles and “horrible experiences” while living in Sydney before moving back to Bathurst.
“I moved back to Bathurst and met Sophie and there’s an incredible community here,” she said describing the lift in her spirit and the “silver lining” to life after she left Sydney.
And, while Ms Jones admitted that Smith and Jones can draw a good crowd at their gigs around Bathurst and the Central West, recording and releasing an album was a little terrifying.
“I’m wondering what people will think of it, and if they’ll like it,” she said.
The pre-launch of Dark Give Way will occur at the Tamworth Country Music Festival on January 21.
“This is our third year at Tamworth [Country Music Festival] and we’ve had massive support there,” Ms Smith said.
“We’re playing there every night for this year’s festival.”
Smith and Jones’ Bathurst launch of Dark Give Way will happen in late February or early March.